After eight years as book review editor for this journal, I thought I would share some thoughts on the review process for a midwestern state historical journal especially in relation to the newfound interest in midwestern history. Finding a New Midwestern History, edited by Jon K. Lauck, Gleaves Whitney, and Joseph Hogan, a collection of recent scholarship on the region, provides a convenient framework to examine the nature of historiography regarding the state of Illinois in innovative and eclectic ways.1 This work along with others, such as Andrew R. L. Cayton and Susan E. Gray's The Identity of the American Midwest and Lauck's The Lost Region, represent a revival of Midwestern studies over the past dozen years that have contributed in part to the creation of the Midwestern History Association (MHA) in 2014 and its annual conferences.2 Many of the readers of this journal are aware...

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